


Everything Changes

by LunaGrey



Category: Dawson's Creek
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-29
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-02-08 04:11:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12856467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaGrey/pseuds/LunaGrey
Summary: This story begins the end of Season 2, I'm changing things. Joey and Dawson are not together, they are just friends when this story begins.





	1. Small Goodbyes, Big Mistakes

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Dawson's Creek, I just borrowed the characters and places. I do not make any money from the writing of this fan fiction.

It was a few weeks after Abby Morgan's funeral and Andie's behavior was becoming more and more erratic. Pacey had tried desperately to help her, but she was not having any of it. 

 

"Oh my God!!! Just leave me alone!" Andie screamed at Pacey, as he followed her out of the kitchen. 

"Andie, would you just listen to me?"

"Why Pacey? So you can try to make it all better? News Flash, I don't want your help!"

"Andie, please, just talk to me." he begged.

"What's going on?" Jack asked as he walked through the front door.

"It's Andie, I caught her talking to someone on what I thought was the phone, but she swears she wasn't. She just started yelling at me when I asked her about it."

"You just don't understand!" Andie screamed storming up the stairs.

"Do you have any idea who she was talking to?" Jack asked with concern.

"It sounded like she was talking to a guy, sounded like she called him Brown."

"Brown?" Jack stammered, a look of concern filling his face.

"What? Is that bad? Do you know who that is?" Pacey demanded.

"Yes, I do and it's not what you think. Brown is what she called Tim when we were kids. When Andie was little she couldn't say Timothy so she called him Brown which was her favorite color."

"So she's talking to Tim?"

"That's what it looks like to me. This is bad, Pacey. I've got to call my dad."

"Do you really think he can help?"

"I don't know, but he's got the resources to get her the help that she needs."

At that moment Andie came slowly down the stairs. 

"You think I'm crazy?" she questioned, tears forming in her eyes.

"No, Andie. We don't think you're crazy. We just want to help."

"I'm not crazy. I'm not. I see Tim and he's here. He talks to me."

"I know you believe that, Andie, but you do need more help than Pacey or I can give you."

"I'm not crazy," she repeated slumping down onto the stairs.

*********************************

"Well she's finally asleep," Pacey informed Jack flopping onto the couch beside him.

"My dad will be here first thing in the morning."

"I hope he does right by you and Andie this time."

"Me too."

"Do you think he's going to try to send her away for treatment?" 

"I don't know."

*********************************

"Pacey....Pacey....oh Pacey," Andie shouted running towards him as he was opening his locker.

"My dad...he came home this morning. He wants to send me away."

"Hang on, Andie....slow down. What exactly did he say?"

"He said that obviously my current therapist isn't doing her job and maybe I need in-patient care at a facility in Providence. He thinks I'm going to be just like mom."

"Andie, he doesn't think that, he just wants to help you. I don't want you to leave, but I do want you to get better."

*********************************

2 days later

 

"I don't know if I can do this?" Andie sobbed.

"Do what?" Pacey asked, wiping a tear off Andie's cheek.

"Break up with you," she replied.

"What? Break up? Who said anything about breaking up?"

"My therapist."

"Why?"

"She didn't say that I had to do anything, but she said a lot of things about a clean slate and really taking the summer to focus on my recovery and all my focus being on that. No distractions. I love you Pacey, but for once in my life I need all my focus to be on me and no one else."

"I understand. I want you to be healthy and happy and if that means taking me out of the equation for awhile then that's what you need to do." 

"I'm sorry Pacey," she began to cry even harder.

"It's okay, McPhee. I'm okay. You go and get better okay?" he leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

She nodded.

*****************************************

"Hey Pace," Joey called, running to catch up to Pacey as he walked out of the school.

"What do you want Potter?" he turned.

"Well I was going to ask you if you wanted to join us at The Ice House tonight? The place is closed while my dad finishes the renovations, but he said we could use it to study for finals."

"Us?" he questioned.

"Me, Dawson, Jack and Jen." she replied.

"Snacks?"

"Of course," Joey laughed.

"Sure, count me in." 

"6 o'clock." 

"Got it. Did Andie put you up to this?"

"No, well kinda, she asked if I would make sure that you didn't completely bomb your exams." 

Pacey just shook his head, gave her a half smile, and walked away.

************************************

A few hours later.....

 

"Pacey, I don't want you hanging out here," Chief Witter raged at his son standing outside the Ice House, "Mike Potter is a known felon and he is..."

"He is....what, Pop?" Pacey questioned.

"There's rumors that he's dealing again and I don't need you hanging out around here when he gets busted. It doesn't make me look 

good."

"You don't know that he's really dealing drugs again. That's just a rumor." Pacey turned to walk back inside his dad grabbed his arm.

"Don't walk away from me," Chief Witter snarled.

"Don't touch me," Pacey yelled, snatching his arm away, "I'm going back inside to study with my friends."

************************************ 

 

"Did you hear that? Jack asked looking up from the history book in front of him.

"Hear what?" Dawson questioned.

"What's that smell?" Jen muttered.

They all looked at each other, "SMOKE!!!" they yelled in unison.

Joey was the first one up out of her chair. 

"There's a fire!" she screamed.

They all raced towards the smell of smoke. As soon as they opened the door they could see the flames licking the walls and engulfing everything in sight. Through the thick smoke they could make out the silhouette of Mike Potter inside the office staring hopelessly at them through the window. He was screaming something at them that they could not hear. 

"Dad! Dad!" Joey screamed, trying to move into the flames toward the office. Dawson shoved her away. A moment later, Chief Witter barged in behind them. 

"You kids get out of here! I'll get Mike. The fire department is on their way." 

Jack grabbed Jen pulling her towards the door. Dawson grabbed a nearby fire extinguisher and started towards the office with Chief Witter right behind him. Pacey picked Joey up and carried her outside.

They stood in silence waiting for a sign of life to emerge from the burning building. The fire fighters arrived as the roof collapsed. Joey clung to Pacey's hand. Moments passed that seemed like an eternity. Finally a firefighter emerged with a coughing Chief Witter taking him straight to a nearby ambulance. The firefighter said something to the paramedic and a stretcher was quickly moved towards the building as another firefighter came dragging someone out of the flames. Pacey strained to see who it was. It was Dawson. He was coughing as they placed him on the stretcher. Joey moved towards him taking Pacey with her, she refused to let go of his hand.

"Dawson, oh my God! Are you okay?" she screamed as tears ran down her filthy ash covered face.

Dawson's hand pushed her away. Joey looked stunned. There was a large gash on the top of Dawson's head. Pacey could see the blood as the paramedics pushed the stretcher towards the waiting ambulance. 

Joey clung to Pacey as they watched the ambulance carrying Dawson disappear down the street. Pacey led Joey to a nearby bench and sat down pulling her down with him. She was clearly in shock. He rubbed her back.

"Dawson is going to be okay, Jo," he whispered to her. 

She stared blankly toward the still burning building. That's when it occurred to Pacey, Mr. Potter was still in there. 

"Why hadn't they gotten him out yet?" he wondered.

They sat in silence for what seemed like hours. Pacey watched the ambulance that held his dad drive off toward the hospital as his brother walked over.

"Are you two okay?" Doug asked.

"Yeah. How's Pop?" Pacey inquired.

"He's going to be fine. He's got a few minor burns and he inhaled a lot of smoke, but he'll recover."

"And Dawson?" Joey trembled.

"He's got a pretty nasty cut on the top of his head. When the roof collapsed he shoved Dad out of the way and got hit by one of the rafters. He's a real hero. Last I heard they were taking him in to surgery." Doug assured them.

"And my dad?" 

Doug paused, he looked at Pacey. 

"Look Jo, there's Bessie and Bodie. I'm sure they're worried sick about you." he told her trying to change the subject and gesturing toward her sister who was standing nearby talking to the fire chief.

"What aren't you telling me?"

"Joey," Doug hesitated, "there's no easy way to say this."

"Just spit it out. I can handle it." she tightened her grip on Pacey's hand.

"They couldn't find him. They searched. They found Dad and Dawson near the office. Dawson was pinned under part of the collapsed roof and Dad was trying to get him out. Once they freed Dawson, one of the firefighters took Dad out and another got Dawson out. The third and fourth guys searched for your dad thinking maybe he was still trapped in the office due to the collapsed roof, but they couldn't find him. The office window was shattered, so they thought perhaps he got out of the office before the roof collapsed, that's when they discovered that the door to the back alley was cracked open." Doug sighed.

Joey looked stunned.

"So what exactly are you saying, Dougie?" Pacey questioned.

"It looks like he ran."

 Joey looked like a deer in the headlights at that moment. 

"Jo..." Pacey said to her.

She turned and looked at him with knowing eyes. She knew this fire had to be her dad's doing. Bessie approached tears running down her face. 

"Joey, let's go home. We need to talk." she reached for Joey's hand. Joey jerked her hand back. 

"I can't go home, I need to go to the hospital and make sure Dawson's okay." 

Bessie looked at Pacey.

"I'll go with her," he assured.

"Okay," Bessie reluctantly agreed. 

Pacey and Joey watched as Bessie walked back to the truck where Bodie and the sleeping Alexander were waiting.

"C'mon you two, I'll drive you to the hospital. I should check on Dad anyway." Doug offered.

************************************

"Dawson is still in surgery. They don't know how long it will be. You should probably go home and get some rest. I don't think we'll be able to see him until tomorrow anyway." Gail told Joey hugging her tight.

"If anything changes I promise to call," Mitch assured.

Joey hadn't spoken a word since they left the Ice House. 

"Joey, Pacey we need to go...now!" Doug urged running towards them from nurses station desk. He had been on the phone and had a look of concern mixed with frustration on his face.

"What's going on?" Pacey asked.

"No time to explain. We need to get over to Joey's house now!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	2. The Aftermath

"What's going on?" Pacey asked again climbing into the back of Doug's squad car beside Joey. 

"I'm not sure, " Doug told him turning on the siren as he backed out of the hospital parking lot speeding towards the Potter house on the outskirts of Capeside.

As they pulled into the crowded yard Pacey noted the scene in front of them. There were 2 squad cars parked in front of the house beside Bessie's old truck. Bessie was standing on the front steps her face red and blotchy, eyes swollen from crying. Bodie was pacing on the porch, clenching and unclenching his fists. Alexander was wrapped up in a quilt sleeping soundly on the porch swing.

"Joey, I'm so sorry." Bessie cried running up to Joey and trying to hug her.

Joey put her arms out to stop her, "what are you talking about?"

"It's gone. All of it." Bessie stammered. 

"What are you talking about?" Joey demanded.

"The money, Joey, my lock box. Mom's wedding ring and locket." Bessie reached out, Joey jerked away and ran into the house.

Pacey followed her inside. He walked into the living room that doubled as Joey's bedroom and found her sitting on the floor staring into a hole, the missing board laying across her knees. 

"He took it. I can't believe he took it."

Before Pacey could ask her what she was talking about, Bessie approached from behind.

"What's that? she asked.

"The money I was saving for college. It's gone, all of it, "Joey explained holding up an empty shoe box.

Bessie hung her head and stumbled down the hall into her bedroom closing the door behind her muffling her sobs. Joey sat silently in the floor staring at the empty box in her hands. Pacey took the box from her and set in on the dresser. 

"C'mon Jo, why don't you go get cleaned up? You'll feel better." he told her taking her hands and pulling her to a standing position. 

She nodded. She blindly reached into the top drawer of the dresser and grabbed some clean clothes. Pacey watched as she walked into the bathroom and waited to hear the shower turn on before walking outside to talk to his brother. He found his brother leaning against his squad car with a faraway look on his face.

"Hey Dougie, I'm going to stay here tonight. Keep Joey company. I don't want to leave her alone with everything that's happened tonight."

"Okay, but you need to be careful. Mr. Potter could come back."

"You really think he would come back here after everything. The fire was bad enough, but to steal from his own daughters?"

"We've alerted the state police. They're searching for him now. I don't know how far he could really get, even if he didn't suffer any burns from the fire, I'm sure he inhaled a lot of smoke which is going to my make moving quickly difficult at best. You just need to be careful. I told Bodie, but I'm going to tell you too, make sure all the doors and windows are locked tonight. We don't know what his state of mind is. He stole from his own daughters and grandchild."

Pacey looked shocked, "what do you mean?"

"Bodie informed me that there was a small ceramic bank in the baby's room, he said it didn't have a huge amount of money in it but at lease a couple hundred dollars. Well it was smashed and all the money missing."

Pacey shook his head, not believing what he was hearing.

"Just be careful, okay?" Doug begged.

"I will. See you in the morning?"

"See you then."

Pacey stood on the porch and watched as the squad cars pulled away. 

"Pacey," he heard Bodie say, " come on inside. I've got some clothes you can borrow. Get cleaned up."

"Thanks, Bodie."

"No problem. The clothes are in the bathroom. I'm going to put Alex to bed and check on Bessie. The doors and windows are locked. Good night."

 

****************************

 

Feeling much better after a hot shower Pacey joined Joey on the couch. She was staring off into space.

"Earth to Potter," Pacey said plopping down onto the couch beside her. She jumped and looked at him.

"Sorry Pace. I was just thinking."

"About?"

"My dad," she struggled, "I just don't understand how a father can steal from his own children. Why would he do this to us? The only things we had left of mom's were her ring and locket, besides this house, and he took them both. He even stole from Alex. He stole from a baby."

"How did you know about that?"

"I saw Bodie carrying out the broken remains of Alex's piggy bank."

"I'm sorry, Jo. I don't know what to say. Dawson would have some eloquent speech that would make you feel better, but I'm just not that guy."

"It's okay, Pace. You being here is enough."

He put his arm around her and she leaned into his chest wrapping one arm around his neck. He could fill the warm tears bleeding through the t-shirt he was wearing as she sobbed quietly. He grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch and threw it across them. He shifted on the wide couch to lay down. Joey remained attached to him. He wrapped his other arm around her as sleep claimed them both.

 

 

 

 

 


	3. Sins of the Father

"Pacey! Pacey!" Bodie urged, shaking Pacey out of a deep sleep.

"What's going on?" Pacey mumbled, rubbing his eyes. 

"There's someone outside. I think it's Mr. Potter." 

"What's wrong?" Joey asked, disentangling herself from the blanket and sitting up on the couch.

"Joey, I think your dad is back. I heard something outside." Bodie said. All of sudden there was a loud bang on the door, then another. 

"What do we do?" she whispered, grabbing Pacey's hand.

"Get down on the floor, be very quiet. I'm going to get Bess and the baby." Joey and Pacey crouched on the floor and watched as Bodie crawled down the hallway out of sight.

The banging on the front door continued. 

"Where's the phone, Jo? I'll call my brother, get the police over here."

"It's on the counter in the kitchen." 

Pacey crawled quickly across the livingroom floor and into the kitchen. He grabbed the cordless phone and slipped back into the livingroom with Joey as the banging got louder.

Bessie and Bodie had joined her on the floor. Luckily the baby was still sleeping, Bessie holding him tightly. 

"I'm going to call my brother. Get the police over here."

He pushed the TALK button and dialed his brother's number. He put the phone to his ear. Silence.

"Oh shit," he mumbled.

"What?" Bessie asked.

"The phone line is dead." 

They all stared at each other in silence. The banging on the door had ceased, but they could hear someone fumbling with one of the windows at the back of the house in Bessie and Bodie's bedroom.

"Bess, where are the truck keys?" Bodie whispered.

"In my purse on the table," she told him. 

"Okay, I want you and Joey to take the baby and go to Mrs. Ryan's. You can call the police from there." Bodie informed her.

"What about you...and Pacey?" Joey questioned.

"We'll be fine. I've got a plan." Bodie reassured her.

"C'mon, Jo, if we're going we need to hurry," Bessie urged, "Grab my purse. Let's go!"

Bodie took the baby and headed into the kitchen toward the door. Joey grabbed Bessie's purse from the table as Bessie silently turned the lock and eased the door open. The truck was parked a few yards from the porch. Pacey stepped out of the house first scanning the yard. All of a sudden they heard glass shattering at the back of the house and what sounded like a gun shot.

"RUN!" Bodie shouted. 

They all ran as fast as they could toward the truck. Bessie climbed in and Bodie handed her the baby then climbed in beside her cranking up the truck. Joey and Pacey climbed into the truck bed as Mike Potter came stumbling out the door unto the porch.

"Drive! He's got a gun." Pacey yelled.

Bodie threw the truck in gear and sped out of the driveway as Mike Potter started firing the gun.

"Get down Joey!" Pacey screamed shoving Joey down into the bed of the truck.

They could still hear the faint sound of gunfire as Bodie maneuvered the old pick-up down the gravel road towards Mrs. Ryan's house.

"Pacey, is that blood? Oh my God! You're bleeding!" Joey shouted at him as she sat up in the truck seeing Pacey slumped against the back windshield.

"It's no big deal, Potter, " he groaned, "just a little scratch is all."

"A little scratch? No big deal? Are you serious?" she demanded, "we just fled my house in the middle of the night because my ex-convict of a father was shooting at us. He shot you Pacey!"

Moments later they pulled up in front of Jen's house. 

Joey climbed out of the back of the truck first and ran towards the house. She yanked open the screen door and started pounding on the door. She saw a light come on through the window and waited for the door to open. Jen opened the door rubbing her eyes.

"Joey?" she questioned, "what's going on?"

Before Joey could say a word Bessie joined her on the porch trying to calm the crying baby in her arms. 

"It's our dad," she told Jen, "long story, can we use your phone?"

"Of course, come in."

Bodie and Pacey walked in a moment later. 

"Oh my God, Pacey, you're bleeding! What happened? " Jen asked.

"Mike was shooting at us as we left. Pacey got hit." Bodie explained.

"The phone is on the wall in the kitchen," Jen told Bessie pointing.

Bessie handed Alex to Bodie and walked into the kitchen to call the police.

"Jennifer? What's going on?" Mrs. Ryan inquired walking into the foyer, tying her bathrobe sash.

"They needed to use the phone Grams. Mr. Potter was shooting at them. Joey was just about to tell us what happened exactly."

"Oh you poor child!" Mrs. Ryan exclaimed, "Come sit down and you, young man, let me take a look at the wound." 

She ushered them into the kitchen. 

"Jennifer, please get the first aid kit dear and Bodie there's some coffee in the cabinet above the coffee maker if you'd like to start a pot while Josephine tells us what happened."

"Thank you Mrs. Ryan." he told her getting up to start a pot of coffee, placing Alex on Bessie's lap.

"Bessie, dear, why don't you take the little one into my room? It's just down the hall, 2nd door on the left and he can go back to sleep."

Bessie nodded, "I'll go get Alex back to sleep. The police should be here soon."

Bessie carried Alex down the hall as Jen came running back in with the first aid kit.

Mrs. Ryan took the first aid kit from her and began working on Pacey, "Alright now, Josephine, tell us what happened."

"You know about the fire at the Ice House, well my father escaped. He went back to our house, stole all our money and my mother's jewelry, then he disappeared. He showed back up with a gun and started shooting at us," she explained, tears filling her eyes. 

Jen wrapped her in a hug, "I'm so sorry, Joey."

They all sat quietly sipping coffee. Mrs. Ryan determined Pacey's injury was minor and told him he might need a few stitches, but he would be just fine. She cleaned it and bandaged him up. Bodie rubbed circles on Bessie's back as she silently cried into her coffee cup. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	4. The News

The paramedics agreed with Mrs. Ryan's assessment of Pacey's injuries and sent him to the ER with Doug to get patched up. Joey insisted on going with him. Bessie and Bodie stayed in the guest room at Mrs. Ryan's. Pacey promised Jen a phone call as soon as they had any update on Dawson's condition. 

"Pacey...Joey," Doug whispered shaking them gently, "wake up."

"Hmmm," Joey mumbled, rubbing her eyes and lifting her head off of Pacey's chest. 

"What's going on?" Pacey asked, stretching. 

"Dawson is out of surgery. The Leery's are waiting to hear from the doctor. Let's go."

Pacey and Joey jumped up out of their seats in the waiting room and followed Doug to the elevator. When the doors opened they saw Mr. and Mrs. Leery speaking with two doctors. Mrs. Leery's eyes were red and blood shot. She looked like she was going to collapse. Mr. Leery was nodding his head. When the doctors walked away, Doug, Joey, and Pacey approached them. 

"How's Dawson?" Pacey asked, Joey clinging to his arm.

" He's in a medically induced coma to give his brain time to rest and hopefully heal. The surgery was successful, they removed a lot of clotted blood around the fracture to his skull. The blood clots were putting pressure on his brain. They were able to repair the skull fracture and stop the brain bleeds. They won't know the extent of any brain damage until he wakes up." Mr. Leery explained.

"Oh my God!" Joey started sobbing again and buried her face in Pacey's chest.

"How long will he be in a coma?" Doug asked.

"We're not sure. The doctors want to give him time to heal. They're saying a couple of weeks at least."

"Can we see him?" Pacey asked, stroking Joey's hair, trying to calm her. 

"They're moving him to ICU. They said we can visit this afternoon."

While they were talking a security guard approached. 

"Deputy Witter, there's a call for you at the nurses station. They said it's urgent."

"I'll be right back. It's probably news about Mr. Potter." Doug turned and followed the guard to the nurses station down the hall.

Mr. and Mrs. Leery walked over to an empty couch. Pacey and Joey followed. 

"What happened to your arm Pace?" Mr. Leery asked as they all sat down. 

"Oh yeah, you don't know about what happened do you?" Pacey replied.

"What happened?" asked Mrs. Leery looking concerned.

"It's a long story." Pacey started. 

"Good thing we have plenty of time to wait." Mr. Leery urged.

"Well, you know, after the fire at the Ice House, we rode with Doug up here to check on Dawson and Pop. Doug got a phone call that we needed to get over to Joey's house. When we got there we found out that Mr. Potter had indeed survived the fire and had broken into the house. He stole all of the money from Bessie's lock box, found Joey's savings, and even took the money from the baby's piggy bank."

"Are you serious?" Mrs. Leery gasped.

Joey nodded and sniffled. 

"Doug informed the state police and there was an alert issued for Mr. Potter, but he came back. We were all asleep and we woke up to banging on the front door. He had cut the phone lines and was trying to get back into the house. He busted out a window, so we ran. We made it outside to Bessie's old truck and before we could get away he started shooting at us. A bullet just grazed my arm. I'm fine, really. We went to Jen's house and Mrs. Ryan patched me up until the paramedics and police arrived. Doug drove me and Joey here. I got a few stitches."

Joey was sobbing and shaking. 

"Oh Joey, sweetheart," Mrs. Leery cried, moving to sit by Joey and wrapping her in a hug, "you poor thing. And Bessie...oh dear." 

They all sat in silence until Doug returned. He was shaking his head with a look of concern on his face. 

Pacey stood up, "what's wrong Dougie?"

"Joey...I....uh...why don't we find somewhere more private to talk?"

"They caught him, didn't they?" she asked, standing up.

"Jo, you might want to sit down," Doug started.

"Just spit it out," she prompted.

"Joey, I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but your father is dead. He was killed fleeing the state police early this morning. We just got the call." 

Joey sat down on the couch and stared straight ahead.

"Jo," Pacey started.

She ignored him, "does Bessie know?"

"I...uh...I sent a deputy over to Mrs. Ryan's to give her the news. Joey, are you okay? Is there anything I can do?" Doug asked.

"I'm fine," she said blankly, "I should go home." 

She stood up. 

"Joey, hun, you really shouldn't be alone right now," Mrs. Leery said with concern.

"I'm fine, Pacey will come with me, won't you?" she reached for his hand. 

"Of course, I will, but Joey..." he started. 

"Let's go." she turned toward the elevators dragging Pacey with her. 

"You'll let me know if there's any change with Dawson?" Pacey called out to the Leery's.

"Of course, " Mr. Leery promised, watching Joey.


End file.
